riddlecatsfandomcom-20200215-history
Marco's Fate
"But Lewis! We can't send him away!" The female Twoleg slammed her palm down hard, making both the cats at her feet jump. "He was a gift from my mother!" "I know that, dearest." The other Twoleg's voice sounded quiet, like he had had this argument before. "But have you seen how much he eats? I only make so much, and there are other bills to be paid. What about you and the baby? It's just too hard to keep this place running with the three of us and three cats around." The female Twoleg was holding a brown kitten in her lap, and she stroked his back with one hand. He mewed. "He was mother's favorite!" "You pamper him too much, Elaine. That's why he's so tubby." Instead of becoming angry, the female Twoleg laughed. "He is, isn't he? My little tubby." She tickled the kitten under the chin. The two cats crouched beneath the table watched warily. The black one had a mashed-in nose and a broad face. He was long-haired, especially in comparison with the other cat. She was female, with ruddy-brown fur and pale blue eyes. The kit looked like both of them. He had his father's features (Persian blood there) and a dark brown shade of his mother's pelt. The female Twoleg cradled him gently. He meowed and rubbed his face against her paw. "What about Rosalyn and Pietro?" the male Twoleg wanted to know. "They were gifts from your mother too. There are plenty of kids in the neighborhood who would take in that little guy. We could make sure he was well cared for. Visit, even." The female Twoleg held the kitten up to her face, and he cuddled her cheek with his head. "He's only four months old, Lewis." "He eats enough for a full grown cat." "He's growing. It's natural. You'll see that he'll stop eating so much when he gets bigger." But he didn't. The kitten was named Marco. He liked to scamper to and fro across the house-run to the living room, back to his food bowl in the kitchen. Run to the bathroom, then back to the kitchen. To the front door when the door bell rang (he'd growl at it like a puppy) and back to his food bowl. Marco grew, yes, but he was growing rounder rather than larger. By the time he was six months old he had doubled his size, easy. Even the female Twoleg had to admit that perhaps he shouldn't be allowed so much food. But there was a problem when you had three cats in one house. It meant there were three food bowls, or one for the three of them to share. In this house, each cat had their own. When Marco's food supply was diminished, he quickly discovered the food left out for his mother and father and ate that too. Not long after that he was sentenced to the garden. Not long after that he ran away. There was a gap in the fence posts, and he squeezed himself through it. All around him were Twoleg dens rising like a great world for him to explore. He sniffed cautiously at the air. There had to be something edible nearby. He padded off slowly, glancing back at his own Twoleg nest from time to time to assure himself that he wasn't getting lost. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the fatso from Number Nine." Marco jumped back, startled. A cat stood over him, leering down with mouth curled into a snarl. "Finally made it out of there, didya?" He recognized her. Some days she had perched on the fence and watched him wander the yard. She often taunted him, calling him lazy and stupid and fat. But he would show her! Marco arched his back, bushing out his pelt as much as it would could, and hissed at the she-cat. "Get away!" The she-cat gave a slow blink of amusement. "Relax, fatty. I'm just proud of you is all. I knew you'd have to come out of that garden of yours eventually. You're just like the rest of us." Marco's fur started to lay flat on his shoulders. He eyed the bigger cat suspiciously. "The others?" "It's dangerous out here on the streets, you know. We can take care of you. Here, I caught this. I was going to eat it, but you can have it." She pushed the body of a sparrow under his nose. "Name's Sunpatches by the way." Marco sniffed at the bird skeptically. "This isn't food. It smells...different." "Eat it," Sunpatches invited, "it's good." Warily, watching the ginger and white she-cat the whole time, Marco took a small bite of the bird. Feathers caught in his teeth, but beneath that it had a flavor. A good flavor, he thought. He knew he could never go back to eating that other food he had eaten his whole life again. "You said there were others," he mewed carefully. "We are united under our leader. Her name is Nika, and you'd better learn to respect her or she'll have your pelt for her nest." Marco flinched. "But we can take care of you," Sunpatches added quickly. "We wouldn't let Nika hurt you unless you did something really mouse-brained like, you know, tried to kill her or something. But you wouldn't do that, so she won't hurt you. It's good, really." "Where do you live?" "In an alley not too far from here. Come on, I'll show you and introduce you to the rest of us. Sand Lee might give you the cold shoulder for awhile, but she'll warm up to you eventually. Then there's Blackbird. She's not much older than you, but an excellent hunter. Oh, and Stripes. You'll like Stripes." "Would I have to hunt for myself? I don't know if I can do that." "Nah, not really. We'll teach you how to eventually, but first we have to get you to know your new home. Bluestripes'll be the one to take you on tours around the Twolegplace. You'll have Blackbird for hunting class, Stripes will show you how to be a scout, and maybe I'll even get to teach you some self-defense." Marco took one last look at the Twoleg nest behind him. Where was he going? He was leaving his whole family back there. His entire past. But something tugged him onward. There was an entire world outside that fence to be explored. So much food to sample-maybe some that even tasted better than that sparrow Sunpatches had given him. Marco vowed he'd find it one day. The best food in the entire history of ever. And now he wouldn't be alone. He'd get to explore the Twolegplace. Maybe he'd even grow big! Marco's whiskers tingled with excitement at the thought of meeting new cats that could teach him to take care of himself. He wanted to know how to catch birds. And Sunpatches, and Nika, had opened that path for him. His mother and father would be all right without him. When he was big and grown, he'd come back and show them that he could take care of himself. They would be so proud of him then. But first he would have to grow. Marco shook out his pelt and hurried after Sunpatches. He would grow! He would grow into the biggest cat in the history of ever! It would be a challenge, but he knew how to solve the problem. He had grown already by eating. He would just have to eat a lot to grow a lot. Simple. Besides, he loved the taste of food. He smiled. This whole being the biggest cat ever deal would be as simple as blinking his eyes. Category:Warriors Fanfiction Category:Short-Stories